Clues About the Location of American Horror Story: Hotel Point to Hollywood Landmark

It turns out that all the information fans need to pin down what hotel is going to the scene of the next season of American Horror Story: Hotel may have been revealed already in AHS: Freakshow. Ryan Murphy had teased throughout the season that some information about next season would be hidden in Freakshow and once it was released that Lady Gaga had been cast as a headliner in the new season of AHS a lot of the clues in Freakshow became clear. Now it looks like a very famous hotel from the Golden Age of Hollywood, the Garden of Allah Hotel, may be the setting for AHS: Hotel. Check out these clues from Freakshow and judge for yourself:

The Top Hat

Remember that top hat that was printed on Maggie’s coffee cup? It wasn’t random, it was a clue about the next season of AHS. Ryan Murphy confirmed that the top hat on the coffee cup was a reference to the film “Top Hat” which was released in 1935. The film was set in a hotel, which should have been fans first clue about the location of the next chapter of AHS. Another clue from “Top Hat” is that one of the biggest songs from that film, “Cheek to Cheek” was recorded as duet by Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett. Who knew that all those clues were hidden in that one image of a top hat?

References to The Garden of Allah

There were also specific references to the famous Garden of Allah hotel in Freakshow. Stanley mentions at one point that he has a cousin who worked in the famous hotel and saw many of the celebrities who were known to live at and party in the hotel like Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, Greta Garbo, and Humphrey Bogart. The list of stars who stayed there or partied there stretches to over 100 of Hollywood’s most famous and infamous as well as cultural icons.

The hotel was closed down and then demolished around the time that Freakshow was set in but it opened in the late 1920s. The film “Top Hat” was released in 1935 and the film The Garden of Allah starring Marlene Dietrich was released in 1936 so it’s a good bet that if the Garden of Allah hotel is the setting for the new season the time frame of the new season will be the Golden Age of Hollywood. Will Lady Gaga be playing a Hollywood starlet during the heyday of Hollywood? That would definitely make for an exciting season.

How Likely is The Garden of Allah to Be The Setting of AHS: Hotel?

There’s a very strong possibility that the Garden of Allah will be the setting of Hotel. The hotel was a nonstop party spot for the richest and most famous cultural icons but it had a distinct dark side too. There were a lot of drugs, flowing alcohol, and more than a few suicides and suspicious deaths. The Garden of Allah was designed to be another world and a total escape from the pressures of Hollywood and it certainly become a world where the people staying at the hotel were insulated from both the rules and the morality of the outside world.

While Murphy has been typically close-mouthed about the details of the next season and there is a lot of speculation about which hotel is going to be the inspiration for the show given that there are very distinct clues pointing to the Garden of Allah hotel scattered throughout Freakshow it seems like a pretty safe bet that the Garden of Allah will be the hotel inspiration for the show and that it will be set during the 30s or possibly the 40s when Hollywood celebrities were having an even better time being famous than they are today. Whether or not some famous faces will actually show up in the show remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, Murphy will try to keep fans guessing until the last minute but for clever fans there are plenty of clues about the next AHS incarnation.